


The Chat's Out of the Bag

by Kristine_Angela_Booth



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Identity Reveal, Perform a Play, Post-Episode: the Dark Owl, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-18
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-04-24 16:45:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14359512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kristine_Angela_Booth/pseuds/Kristine_Angela_Booth
Summary: Fed up with Marinette being unable to ask out Adrien, Alya and Nino write a play to force them together. Unable to escape the roles of Ladybug and Chat Noir, Marinette and Adrien struggle to balance school, the play, and their attempts to stop Hawk Moth from destroying Paris. An eventual reveal fic. Rating just in case.





	1. Ice Melt

Marinette walked to school with a contented sigh. She had woken up early that morning to add finishing touches to her homework, and it was looking like she would be on time to school. For once, her duties as Ladybug hadn't interfered to the point of making her fall too behind on her schoolwork.

With her backpack swung over her shoulder, she approached the steps in front of her school. She raised a hand to greet Alya, but the sight she saw on the steps made her pause. Alya stood with Nino, their heads practically touching so their whispers wouldn't reach the ears of those around them. Marinette walked over, her hand falling to her side. The two of them were talking very intently while looking at a notebook clutched in both their hands.

At that moment, a silver limo pulled up to the school. Adrien stepped out, gorgeous and graceful as ever. He saw Nino with Alya, a confused expression spreading over his face. He walked up to Marinette, both watching their friends.

"What's up with them?" he asked.

Marinette started at the sound of his voice. "Oh, uh, I-I don't kn-know. I j-just got h-here," she stammered out. She groaned inwardly. When would she be able to say a single coherent sentence to him? She just got so flustered by those dazzling green eyes…

"Hey, Nino, what're you guys reading?" Adrien didn't react to her stammering, simply walking up to the two teens huddled together. They broke apart instantly. They did a complete 180, Alya slamming the notebook shut and hiding it behind her back. Both of them smiled sheepishly and waved at their friends.

"Oh, it's nothing, dude. Just something that we've been working on. Let's get to class." Nino and Adrien left together and went into the building.

Marinette pulled her eyes away from Adrien's back and walked up to Alya. She looked at the notebook behind her back. "What's in there that had the two of you all whispery?"

"You'll find out later, promise," Alya assured her. "But for now we should go to class."

The whole first half of school, Marinette kept trying to sneak glances into the secret notebook. All the while, Alya kept peeking inside, adding notes to it. Marinette did her best to look nonchalantly when she did this. That meant that instead of being truly nonchalant, she very obviously leaned over and almost fell out of her chair. Alya shook her head, laughing as Marinette barely caught the table in time to hold herself up.

When the lunch bell rang, Alya pulled the notebook out once more. "I need to meet up with Nino, Girl. Do you mind if we separate for lunch?"

Marinette sighed. "Go ahead, I can just go back home for lunch anyway. Whatever you guys are doing must be captivating!" she added as Alya hurried to the row in front of the class to catch up with Nino before he left.

The next minute left most of the class gone, and just Marinette and Adrien left in the room. Without him so much as looking at her, Marinette felt her cheeks go bright red. She stumbled to put her stuff back in her backpack. In the process, she dropped a pencil, which fell to the bottom of the stairs. The clanking alerted the attention of Adrien. He walked to the base of the steps and grabbed the writing utensil.

"Drop this?" he asked, smiling at her.

Marinette laughed nervously. She walked over and took the pencil from her, the fingers that brushed against his tingling at the touch. "Th-thanks. I, uh, guess it hand from my slipped. Er- slipped from hand my. I mean, slipped from my hand!" Her cheeks burned, turning a deep shade of red.

Thankfully, Adrien just laughed. "Sounds like a cat's got your tongue," he joked.

Marinette snorted, only just managing to disguise it with a cough. That sounded exactly like something Chat Noir would have said. "Y-yeah. I guess s-so."

"Well, I've got to head out for lunch. See you, Marinette." Adrien waved at her, leaving her standing in the middle of the classroom awkwardly.

"B-bye!" she managed, waving a belated goodbye. After a minute, she followed him out, her cheeks dulling to a pink. In the courtyard she saw Alya and Nino sitting together, once again working on their notebook.

Marinette shook her head and went home to eat lunch. On her way, however, she heard the all-to0-familiar sound of screams coming from outside. She stiffened immediately, running out to see what was causing the commotion.

The familiar limo that brought Adrien to and from school was stopped not far down the road. In front of it was another car, frozen in a block of ice. A woman with pure white hair stood on the sidewalk. She wore a pale blue and white suit. Other students ran out, and she turned to look at them. Her mask looked exactly like frost had begun to creep out from her eyes. She had a belt adorned with several items.

"No one can have an icy personality when they're covered in ice!" she said with glee, grabbing a baton from her belt and pointing it towards the silver limo. Ice shot from the baton.

Right before it hit and encased the car in ice, the back door flung open and Adrien dived out of the car. He quickly scrambled to his feet and ran from the ice and the akuma victim.

Marinette, seeing him run safely to hide, ran back into the school. She found a luckily empty classroom and unclasped her purse.

Tikki flew out, looking worried. "That was a close one for Adrien," she observed.

"Too close. Tikki, spots on!" There was a burst of pink magic, and Marinette transformed into her now-familiar Ladybug outfit. She hurried out of the room. Everyone was distracted by the akumatized girl to notice her running out of the school. She swung her yo-yo and went to the roof of the school.

"Hey Ice Queen!" she shouted, looking down as people scattered before the white baton. The girl looked up and grinned, the outline of a purple butterfly appearing in front of her face.

"Looks like we've got a slippery situation on our hands." Ladybug looked over, rolling her eyes at Chat Noir.

"We've got to find out where the akuma is," she said, ignoring what he said.

"My name is Ice Melt, and I will have your Miraculous!" she shouted up at them. She grabbed another baton from her belt, pointing it at the original car. Fire burst from this one, turning it into a puddle of water.

Chat Noir and Ladybug gasped. "That heated up quickly," Chat Noir said.

They both leaped down, Ladybug using her yo-yo to swing down, and Chat Noir using his own baton to slow his descent. They landed on either side of Ice Melt, standing in fighting stances.

"Whatever happened to you, we can help. This isn't going to help you," Ladybug said. She took a step towards Ice Melt, hoping that for once reasoning with them would work. She was wrong.

A stream of ice shot towards her, making her dodge to the side. She threw her yo-yo, wrapping it around Chat Noir and yanking right before another blast hit where he'd been standing. He screamed in shock as he was forced towards her. He crashed into her, sending them both sprawling to the ground. A grin broke out on his face as he looked down at her.

"Not now, Chat," Ladybug said, pushing him away and getting to her feet.

He followed her lead and stood, facing Ice Melt once more. "Any plan on how to get rid of those batons, Milady?"

Another blast fired. They scrambled to the side. "She keeps them on her belt. We need to get that while she's mobile and can't shoot."

"Got it." Chat immediately jumped onto a nearby lamppost. He turned to Ice Melt, waving his hand tauntingly. "If you want my Miraculous, you'll have to come and get it!"

He started to move away, using lampposts and buildings to propel himself further.

"Get back here!" Ice Melt shouted, putting the baton back on her belt and racing after him.

Ladybug smirked, waiting a moment before following them. She swung through the streets, trying to find a good opportunity to get to her belt. She was about to swing towards her when the purple butterfly appeared in front of Ice Melt. The villain turned her head and glared at Ladybug. The image in front of her face faded away.

"Not so fast, Ladybug." She stopped and grabbed her ice baton, firing a shot towards her. Ladybug yelped, changing her direction as fast as she could. She hit a rooftop when she felt her foot go cold.

Ladybug looked down in horror. Her foot was encased in a block of ice. She tried pulling her leg, but it remained steadfast. Looking up, she saw Ice Melt coming across to her on a bridge of ice. Ladybug started to pull on her leg harder.

"Ladybug!" Chat Noir shouted from a distance. He turned around, racing to make up the distance and stop Ice Melt.

Desperately, Ladybug grabbed her yo-yo and threw it into the air. "Lucky Charm!" she shouted. A red pair of scissors covered in black dots fell into her hands. She stared at it for a second, her anxiety rising. Glancing around, she searched for any way she could use it. Ice Melt's belt caught her attention as well as Chat Noir's staff and the chunk of ice Ice Melt was walking on.

"Chat Noir! Use Cataclysm on the ice!" she shouted. He looked at her in shock, almost tripping as he kept running. Upon finding her gaze, he nodded. Sometimes, she wondered if he trusted her too much.

"Cataclysm!" Chat Noir continued running, then touched his hand down a few feet from Ice Melt. The ice shattered and collapsed, momentarily bringing both Chat Noir and Ice Melt with it.

On reflex, Chat's staff shot forward and lodged itself into the side of the building. He crouched on it in his typical cat fashion, and his hands grabbed ahold of Ice Melt's hand.

"Chat, it must be in the belt!" Ladybug called, moving as close to the edge of the roof as she could. She tossed down the scissors, which he caught deftly in his free hand. While Ice Melt was still recovering from the shock, Chat Noir bent down and used the scissors to cut through the belt on her waist.

A purple butterfly emerged, flying up into the sky. Ladybug sighed in relief.

"No more evil doing for you, little akuma," she said. She swung her yo-yo and caught it. "Time to de-evilize!"

She retracted the yo-yo and she slid her finger down the middle. A pure white butterfly flew out and into the sky. "Bye-bye little butterfly."

Chat Noir jumped up to the rooftop, scissors in one hand. "I left Ice Melt on the ground. Apparently, she had a fight with her mother," he said.

Ladybug took the scissors from him and threw it into the sky. "Miraculous Ladybug!" Red and black magic flew from it, repairing the damage done by the akuma - including freeing Ladybug's foot from the ice.

"Pound it!" Ladybug put out her fist and Chat Noir touched his to it. Their hands returned to their sides.

"Does your foot need warming up Milady?" Chat said with teasing smile.

Ladybug's earrings beeped. "That's my cue. See you Chat," she said, throwing her yo-yo to swing away.

\---

Chat watched her go, sighing. All he could hope was that one day she would look at him like he looked at her. It wasn't long before she was out of sight. He turned and started racing across rooftops to get back to the school. He landed discreetly behind a bush and whispered: "Claws in."

"That was a close one for Ladybug," Plagg noted, floating in front of Adrien.

"Yeah. I'm just glad she's okay, I don't know what I'd do without her," he said.

"As a superhero or do you mean your nonexistent love life?"

Adrien chose to ignore this comment. "Just get in my jacket, Plagg." He held it open and the black kwami flew inside.

He walked out from behind the bush, into a crowd of students talking. "Adrien! Where'd you go, dude?" the familiar voice of Nino called to him.

"I found somewhere to hide. I didn't want her to keep going after me," Adrien said with a shrug. "Is everyone okay?"

Nino nodded. "Ladybug and Chat Noir saved the day once again. Though your bodyguard doesn't look too happy."

Adrien looked towards the silver limo and his shoulders slumped. His gorilla-like bodyguard had located him and was stomping towards him. "My father won't be happy either," Adrien said with a sigh.

Nino patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll be fine. He let the car get hit, maybe he won't even bring it up to him."

At this, Adrien perked up. "Yeah, that's true. I guess I should go. See you next class, Nino." He waved a goodbye and went to deal with his bodyguard.

\---

Hawkmoth clenched his fist angrily in his dark atrium. "One day I will get you, Ladybug. You and Chat Noir will fall to me, and I will have the power of your Miraculous'." The window closed, leaving him encased in darkness.


	2. Casting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The play is introduced. Then a little bit of MariChat.

Two days after the incident with Ice Melt, Marinette was running to school just a few minutes before class was going to begin. She raced as fast as she could, almost falling as she turned the corner to the school. By the time she reached the building, there was a minute to roll call.

She ran up the steps, using everything she had to get to her classroom. She ran in seconds before the bell rang. Quickly making her way to her seat, she sat down, panting.

"Did you sleep in again?" Alya asked.

Marinette nodded, catching her breath before responding. "Stayed up doing homework and then my alarm didn't go off," she said miserably, her head in her arms.

"Don't worry, I think I've got something that will cheer you up," Alya said.

Marinette looked up at her friend. "What is it?" she asked.

Alya winked. "Patience, young grasshopper," she said in a mock-sensei voice.

"All right, everybody. We have a special announcement from a couple of our class members today," Ms. Bustier said after doing roll call.

Alya grabbed the notebook she had been pouring over for the past few days and went to the front of the classroom with Nino. Ms. Bustier moved to the side of the room to make the two students the center of attention.

"Nino and I talked to Principal Damocles, and we got permission for our class to put on a play that the two of us wrote," Alya began.

Chloe scoffed, interrupting. "You're going to force us to put on an amateur play? No way!" Next to her, Sabrina nodded dutifully.

"You don't have to do it Chloe, you just won't get any of the credit, because Principal Damocles has made it a class assignment," Alya said smugly. Chloe glared at her in response but said nothing more.

Marinette raised her hand. "What kind of play did you guys write?" she asked curiously.

This time, Nino was the one to answer. "Our play is about Ladybug and Chat Noir."

Marinette's eyes widened, and she had to stop herself from jumping a foot in the air. In her shock, she missed Adrien stiffening in much the same way. A Ladybug and Chat Noir play? Marinette thought. Why did it have to be Ladybug and Chat Noir?

"Who's going to play Ladybug?" Sabrina asked.

"Why, me of course!" Chloe said, only interested now that she heard it was about her hero. "Who would make a more perfect Ladybug than me?"

Alya and Nino shared a look before answering the question. "Actually," Alya said, "Nino and I have already decided who our main heroes should be played by."

A chorus of "who" rang throughout the class.

Nino pointed at Adrien. "We think Adrien would make a great Chat Noir."

"And Marinette would make a great Ladybug." Alya was pointing at her own friend.

Marinette and Adrien started, glancing at each other, then at the two playwrights. Their jaws hung open, both desperately trying to think of a way out of this.

"I'm not sure if I'd make a great Chat Noir," Adrien said, rubbing the back of his head. "You guys should have someone else do it."

"Uh, me too," Marinette said awkwardly. "I'm really not much of an actress. Someone else should be the lead."

Before either Alya or Nino could respond, Chloe spoke up. "If she won't be Ladybug, then just go with me. You should've in the first place anyways," she said haughtily.

"We think that Marinette would be more dedicated to the role," Alya said, not able to keep all of the spite out of her voice. She looked up at Marinette. "Come on, you have to. You would make a perfect Ladybug!"

"Yeah, Marinette. I think you'd be great," Adrien said.

Marinette's cheeks when crimson at the compliment. "Y-you'd be better than me. As Chat Noir, I mean! You'd be a better Chat Noir than I'd be a Ladybug."

Adrien's eyes widened and he laughed awkwardly. "No, I think you'd be a much better Ladybug. Besides, I don't have the time to be lead in a play."

"We thought about that. We can easily schedule practice around your shooting schedule, dude," Nino said, smiling.

"B- Uh, it's not just shooting. I've got Chinese, piano, fencing, and whatever else my father sends me to do," Adrien said, grasping for any reason to not be Chat Noir in the play.

Everyone in the class started talking at once. Everyone seemed to believe Adrien should definitely play Chat Noir, and everyone but Chloe and Sabrina wanted Marinette to be Ladybug. Marinette and Adrien shared almost pained looks before sighing and nodding in consent.

"Fine, I'll do it," Marinette said.

"I- Alright. I'll be Chat Noir," Adrien said dejectedly.

\---

"How exactly did you think that making me embarrass myself in a play would cheer me up?" Marinette asked after class got out, staring down at the script in her hand. Alya had gone through and highlighted all of her lines, encompassing more of the pages than she wished they did.

"Because Adrien is your co-star! You guys are going to spend so much time together!" Alya said, smiling wide.

Marinette froze. "That's right. I'm going to be acting with Adrien. And I'm going to have to say a whole play. With him right there. Oh, Alya, I don't know if I can do this! I can barely talk to him as it is!" She buried her face in her hands.

Alya sighed, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll do great! I'll help you memorize your lines. Knowing what you have to say should help you stay coherent."

Nino walked past them, pounding fists with Alya. "That went great, Alya. I'll see you later to finish up with casting."

As he walked away, Marinette looked up at her friend. She scrunched up her face in suspicion. "Did you guys plan this? I mean, I know you planned the play, but do you guys have a hidden plan-behind-the-plan that you're not sharing with your BFF?"

For a moment, Alya avoided her gaze and pretended to be admiring a butterfly a few feet away. Marinette's gaze didn't waver, making her friend sigh and look back at her. "All right, all right. I admit we may have had an ulterior motive behind writing the play."

"And that motive was…?" Marinette pressed.

"We were tired of you being unable to ask out Adrien. So we decided to arrange a way for you to spend more time together without you having to," Alya said.

A mix of a whine and a groan escaped Marinette's lips and her face once more found its way into her hands. She sat down on the steps to the school and Alya sat next to her. "So now I get to embarrass myself in front of Adrien and the rest of the school because I couldn't stop embarrassing myself in front of Adrien?"

Alya laughed. "Oh, Girl, come on. Only you could take this opportunity and ruin it! We worked hard so you could hang with him, you can at least pretend to be excited."

That's when the full brunt of it hit Marinette. Her head slowly rose from her hands, her eyes wide. "I… I'm going to hang out with Adrien," she said dreamily.

Her friend's laugh increased. "There's the Marinette I know and love."

\---

Adrien sat at his desk at home. "What am I going to do, Plagg? I just agreed to play myself in a play!"

"This is dangerous, Adrien," Plagg said. He was floating in front of the young blonde's face. "You can't risk them finding out who you are."

He groaned. "I know. But how am I going to get out of it? I can't exactly explain that I am Chat Noir and can't be in the play or my identity will be revealed. And I can't tell them how full my schedule is, either. They're intent to work around what my father has me do, but what about my superhero duties? How can I explain that in the little spare time I have I'm jumping from rooftop to rooftop dressed in leather and fighting crime?"

Plagg sighed. "This is why you shouldn't let yourself get caught up in relationships. Cheese comes with much simpler problems."

"Life isn't all about camembert, you know," Adrien said.

The black kwami looked at him in shock. "But what could be better than a wheel of camembert?"

Adrien raised an eyebrow. "Friendship? Family? Just about anything other than the smelliest cheese you can find?"

"At least cheese doesn't threaten to reveal your secret identity," Plagg retorted. He flew towards the table of food set out by Adrien's personal chef and started munching on some of the cheese. Adrien watched his kwami devour it, wondering what his chef thought of Adrien's apparent change in dietary preferences. One day he hates stinky cheese, and the next he seemed to be craving mountains of it.

Sighing, Adrien turned towards the script that sat on the desk in front of him. Nino had highlighted what appeared to be a fourth of the script for him. "At least they gave me a few good puns. I wonder if I should suggest some more to them, they missed a few great opportunities."

"What is with you and bad puns?" Plagg asked around a mouthful of cheese.

"Bad? My jokes are great!" Adrien said.

At that moment, Adrien's father walked in. Plagg hurried and hid behind a pillow on the couch just in time. Gabriel Agreste looked down at his son, his face a stone.

"You are supposed to be practicing your piano, Adrien," he said disapprovingly. "Instead, you're… what is that you're reading? A school assignment?"

"Kind of, yeah. Our class is going to put on a play, and I've been cast as one of the leads," Adrien said. He looked up at his father, willing any semblance of pride or happiness to show on his sharp features. Instead, he saw a look of stern displeasure.

"Plays take a lot of time. I will not permit you to be in one if it in any way harms your studies," he said. He waved his hand towards the grand piano. "Now get to your practice or I will have to forbid you from participating."

Adrien hung his head. "Yes, Father," he said. He stood up from his desk, leaving the script behind, and sat down at his piano. Once he had started playing, his father turned and left just as stiffly as he had entered.

Plagg peaked over the couch, then flew to sit on the piano at which Adrien was playing. He watched Adrien as he played morosely. Even to the black cat kwami, it was clear that his father's words had brought down his mood even further.

"I thought you didn't want to be in the play?" Plagg eventually said.

"I don't. But it would be nice if my father could at least be happy that I'm cast as a lead. He didn't even ask what play we were doing." He finished the song and paused. "I need to clear my head."

Adrien pulled out his phone and pulled up a recording of his playing. He hit play and put it onto the speakers on his piano. Grabbing a remote, he opened one of the windows on the wall. "Plagg, claws out!"

With a burst of green magic, and a groan from Plagg as he was sucked into the ring, he went through the motions of his transformation. He jumped out the window and started soaring through the sky, either jumping or using his stick to get to each new rooftop.

He wandered Paris for a while with no destination in mind. Then he reached a roof across the street from where a familiar girl stood on a balcony. Marinette's blackberry hair was unmistakable as she leaned over the railing, looking at the street. It looked like she was talking to someone, but Chat couldn't see anybody else with her. She looked stressed, and he had a feeling he knew what about.

Propelling himself forward, he landed behind her on the rooftop. Marinette spun around, going into a fighting stance. That surprised him. He didn't think she had any sort of fight training other than the one time she had come to his fencing class.

When her eyes rested on him, she relaxed. "Chat Noir?" she asked, confused.

Chat grinned, his green eyes twinkling as he dropped down to the balcony with her. "The one and only."

"What are you doing at my house?" her bluebell eyes watched him awkwardly.

"I was just making some rounds and I saw you sitting here. You looked kind of stressed. Is something wrong?" he said.

Marinette laughed nervously, her hand going to the back of her head. "Nothing that a hero like you needs to worry about. Just my own problems."

He cocked his head. "You looked pretty distressed, talking about it might help." He leaned against the wall, looking at her with inquisitive eyes. She seemed to be avoiding his, her eyes occasionally glancing downward.

"I really don't think you'd care. You must have enough on your plate dealing with the people that have been akumatized, along with whatever you do when you're not a superhero," she said.

"And what kind of superhero would I be if I left the damsel in distress alone with her distress?" he asked, winking at her.

She looked up at him. "Superheroes don't deal with the damsel in distress. That would be a fairytale prince." Marinette crossed her arms, looking remarkably like Ladybug for just a moment. Then her words seemed to hit her. Her cheeks went pink and she dropped her arms, looking embarrassed.

"I can be your fairytale prince," Chat Noir said jokingly. "Seriously, why don't you just talk to me? I'm here and I want to help."

Marinette sighed, going back to her position against the railing. "My friends are forcing me to be in this play, but I know I'm just going to make a fool of myself. I'll never hear the end of it if I can't do it well."

Chat Noir walked over, leaning against the railing next to her. His eyes looked at her as she talked, though her eyes were downcast. "What makes you think that you're not going to do well?"

"You don't know me, but I'm not exactly graceful. I'm super clumsy, and with A- ah, someone involved, I don't think I'll be able to get my words out straight. I just wish I could get out of this thing."

Chat's eyes widened. He wanted to comfort her as Adrien, but reminded himself just in time that he wasn't Adrien, he was Chat Noir. He put a gloved hand gently on her shoulder. "I'm sure you'll do great. Plays are all about memorizing, so just make sure to get lots of practice. Practice makes purrfect after all."

Marinette looked up at him, rolling her eyes. "I'm starting to see why people tend to like Ladybug more than you," she said jokingly.

He put his hand to his chest, pretending to be hurt. "I'm wounded! Milady is wonderful, but I've still got my own fans. Everyone likes a devilishly handsome superhero, after all."

She laughed, making Chat smile even wider. His life may not be so great right now, but at least he could help Marinette feel better about her role. He looked out over Paris. She has a great view from up here, he thought.

"So what's your play about?" he asked. If he didn't it might seem suspicious.

Once again, Marinette looked down. "It's, uh. It's a play about, uh, about you and Ladybug. My friends wrote it, and they're making me be Ladybug."

Despite already knowing this information, Chat couldn't help but grin. "You're doing a play about me and Ladybug? Your friends must be great fans of us as well. If you're Ladybug, who you'll be wonderful at, then who's me?"

Her face went pink again, but this time she was able to meet his gaze. "You know the fashion designer Gabriel Agreste?"

He nodded, thinking of a quick reaction he might give if he didn't know that he was the one playing himself. "I hope he's not playing me. A bit old, and grumpy, don't you think?"

"No, he's not. It's actually his son, Adrien," she said.

"Well, if anyone can capture my essence it would be a model, wouldn't it?" Chat Noir smiled, but couldn't help feeling strange. He was talking about himself like he wasn't even there. It was always strange when he had to do that. At least this time there was no akuma involved.

"I'm sure he'll get you down perfectly. He's great at what he does." Her voice went a bit higher as she said that.

I'm really glad to have her as a friend if she thinks that, he thought.

The two of them stood there for a while, talking and watch as the sun slowly crept further towards the horizon in the Paris sky. He wasn't sure how much later it was when he remembered that he was supposed to be in his room.

"What time is it?" he asked suddenly, cutting their current topic of conversation short.

"Uh, 6:04," Marinette said, looking at her phone. Chat's eyes widened.

"I've gotta go!" He jumped up on the railing, looking around until he found the direction of his house. Before he left, he turned back to her to say one more thing. "Good luck with your play. You'll steal the entire show."

With that, he jumped to the next building and was racing back to his house before Nathalie would come get him for dinner.


	3. Atomizer

"Chat Noir is right, Marinette," Tikki said as they watched him leave. "If you can't find a way to get out of it, you'll do amazing in the play. You are Ladybug after all." The kwami flew next to Marinette, who climbed back down to her room.

"But what if I can't get out of it? Even if I do manage to act with Adrien, I can't act too well. If I'm too good they'll find out that I'm actually Ladybug, and if they find out that I'm Ladybug, then everything I've gone through to keep my secret is out the window!" Marinette sat in her desk chair, spinning a few times before coming to a stop to stare at the script again.

Since the time she'd gotten home after school, she had spent a lot of time looking through it. For two people who had never written a play before, it was surprisingly good. They'd even written in several jokes for Chat Noir, though they lacked the frequency of the real Chat. Even for Marinette, who couldn't help but feel odd reading about herself, the story was incredibly compelling. The akumatized person they fought was very realistic, and the last act even had them facing Hawk Moth himself. Marinette could only hope that when they did face him it went so well.

"You'll just have to be careful onstage. I still don't think the play is a great idea, but I don't think Alya is going to give you much of a choice," Tikki said.

Marinette sighed, pushing the play out of the way and grabbing her tablet from her bag. "I'd better get started on my other assignments. I can always figure out a game plan tomorrow, right?" Tikki nodded in agreement, and she set to work.

After half an hour of sitting there, working on her homework, Marinette couldn't take it anymore. She tossed down the pen and flung herself onto her bed, staring at the ceiling.

"What's wrong, Marinette?" Tikki asked, following her master to the bed.

Another large sigh escaped the girl. "How am I ever going to watch how I act around Adrien? What if I slip right into being Ladybug so I can get two words out?"

Tikki floated down and gently tapped Marinette's shoulder. "You'll do great. If you can fight akumas every week, you can act in a play."

Marinette turned her head, looking at the corkboard covered with pictures of her friends. And Adrien. Lots of pictures of Adrien. Mostly pictures of Adrien. She reached her hand up and touched one that she had cut out from a fashion magazine his father owned. His green eyes shone so brightly, looking just to the side of the camera. The happiness there was so genuine, she often found herself wondering what he had been looking at at the time.

"Maybe," she said, her hand dropping down to the bed. She turned and looked at her kwami, a faint smile gracing her lips. "I don't know how you're always so optimistic, Tikki."

Tikki laughed. "Thousands of years can do that."

With what remained of the day, Marinette worked on her homework and stared at the play. Her mother brought her up some food when she explained how much work she had to do. She picked at her meal idly while she worked. At eleven she finally finished and returned to her bed. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep.

She dreamt of her racing through Paris as Ladybug, Chat Noir next to her. The wind through her hair as she swung from building to building was a feeling that she couldn't believe she had ever lived without. Her yo-yo wrapped around chimneys and spires, doing exactly what she wanted without much of a thought.

They stopped at the Eiffel Tower, sitting down and looking out. Ladybug glanced to the side and looked at Chat Noir. He looked back, a grin spread over his face. She frowned, noticing that the usually joyful look didn't quite reach his eyes. Instead, he looked sad.

"I've loved this time with you, Bugaboo," he said, his voice forlorn.

"Are you okay, Chat?" she asked, the view leaving her mind upon seeing her friend so sad.

Chat shrugged, looking away from her. For the longest time, he didn't say anything but remained quiet. When Ladybug couldn't take it anymore, she spoke.

"You can tell me. Let me help," she said desperately.

He opened his mouth to say something when Marinette was awoken by her alarm.

She sat up quickly, her eyes wide. What was that? she thought. In a sort of trance, she grabbed her phone and turned off the alarm. Tikki woke up next to her, rubbing her eyes with her hands.

"Are you okay, Marinette?" the red kwami asked, echoing Marinette's own words from her dream.

Marinette nodded. "Y-yeah. I'm fine. Just a weird dream, is all." She shook herself out of her stupor, making herself get ready for the day. When she went downstairs for breakfast the dream was pushed from her mind. She had light conversation with her mother while her father worked the bakery.

"Love you, honey!" her mother called as she left for school. Marinette waved to her parents and started the walk to her school building.

Alya was waiting for her on the steps, a few feet from where Nino was greeting Adrien. Marinette frowned slightly at the look Adrien had when he glanced at the silver car pulling away. He looked almost… sorrowful.

"What'd you think of the script?" Alya asked her excitedly.

"I-I loved it!" Marinette said, drawing her eyes away from Adrien. "It's all so well-written and planned, how long did you and Nino take to write this?"

"Oh, we've been working on this for a while. It was just fun at first, but then we realized we could use it to help you out." Alya turned and walked with Marinette into the school. "I'm glad you got the chance to read through it. We're doing tryouts for casting today, and we were thinking that you and Adrien could practice reading lines."

They walked into the classroom, where a very blonde, very angry girl stopped them from moving more than a few feet.

"She," Chloe jabbed a finger towards Marinette, "will not be reading lines with Adrien. I will be the one that will be acting with him in your weird little play."

Alya folded her arms and returned Chloe's glare. "Nino and I are the directors, Chloe. We're the ones that make casting decisions, not you!" She pushed past her, dragging Marinette to their seats in the second row.

Chloe's face scrunched up in further anger, and she stalked over to stand in front of their desk. She whipped out her phone and showed the contact for her father - the mayor of Paris. "You are going to cast me as Ladybug or my father will make sure that this play never makes it beyond its grubby little pages."

"Seriously, Chloe?" Marinette said. "You always have to ruin a good thing, don't you? You can always have some other part in the play. There are several."

"Are those other parts Ladybug? I won't stand to be anything less than the best," Chloe retorted. Her finger hovered over the call button threateningly. "Daddy is a busy man, and he won't take kindly if you take time out of his busy schedule."

"Why are you calling your father, Chloe?" Adrien asked. Chloe whirled around, giving Marinette a view of the young model who had just walked into the room. His face looked so innocent, not realizing what the girl was doing. Nino and several other classmates had entered behind him, all of them already glaring at her.

"Adrikins!" Chloe hurried down to where he stood, her arms wrapping around his neck as she hugged him. She purposefully had the hug last just longer than would have been appropriate for friends before she pulled away. "Don't you agree that I should be Ladybug in this play thingy? Marinette will just ruin it for everybody if she goes onto that stage."

Adrien looked down at Chloe, then looked at Marinette. "You'd be fine as Ladybug, too, but I think that Marinette can live up to the role."

Marinette felt blood rush to her cheeks at the compliment. Chloe, on the other hand, was shocked. For just a moment, all the girl could do was stare.

"Her?" she demanded. "You think that klutz could do Ladybug justice? If she can even remember her lines, she's bound to fall off the stage in the first scene! Wouldn't you prefer to be on stage with me?"

He shrugged. "You're always in the spotlight, why not give Marinette a chance? There are plenty of other characters that you can be, why not try out for one of those? Or do costume and makeup. You like clothes, don't you?"

The shock remained on her face for a brief moment before she composed herself. "Of course I like clothes! But costume and makeup is the work of servants! Daddy wouldn't want me to have anything less than Ladybug!"

"Chill out, Chloe," Nino said. "Alya and I are in charge of casting, and we've decided that Marinette is Ladybug."

If Marinette had been drinking water, she would have choked. She knew the words 'Marinette is Ladybug' had nothing to do with her actual secret, but nonetheless she felt her heart begin to race. All of the worries she'd had the night before returned to her in full. What if they DO find out? What will I do?

Chloe huffed, returning to her seat next to Sabrina in the front row. Nino smiled at Alya, and Adrien smiled at Marinette. It lasted only a second before he returned to his seat, but the look stunned the girl for more than one reason. Reason number one - the reason Marinette knew Alya would assume - was that Adrien Agreste had just smiled at her. Reason two was the look in his eyes. She saw an awful lot of anxiety and worry in his gaze, enough to reflect what she felt. Was it possible that the famous model was also worried about this play?

Alya elbowed her, bringing Marinette back down to Earth and out of those stunning, mint-green eyes. "Roll call," Alya whispered to her.

School that day could only be described as dull. Chloe kept shooting Marinette and Alya dirty looks, but the pair knew that she wouldn't do anything. Not when Adrien had essentially endorsed Marinette as the part of Ladybug instead of her. The primadonna was many things, but she did do her best to keep one of her only friends liking her. Even if that meant sometimes she had to keep her massive, beyond-inflated ego in check.

The bell rang for the last class of the day, and Alya and Nino stood up quickly to organize people for casting. It seemed like everybody would be staying to audition or be assigned their backstage roles.

"I can do all technical work for the play," Max said immediately. He had approached the two directors as soon as he could get through the crowd.

"We figured you'd want to," Nino said. "Do you want anyone to help you? It might be a lot of work."

Max shook his head, pushing his glasses up on his face. "I can easily handle the load. I glanced through the script last night, so I should get a full workup of what we need by tomorrow morning."

"That's awesome! You're the best, Max!" Alya said. Max smiled and returned to his seat, where he seemed to be meticulously going over the script.

Marinette reached for her backpack and pulled out her own script. Alya and Nino started explaining how auditions were going to work, but Marinette didn't pay attention. Printed on the cover was the title:

The Tale of Ladybug and Chat Noir

"Great title, don't you think?"

She jumped, spinning around to face the person that had approached her, barely staying in her seat. Adrien put his hand up, evidently shocked that she reacted so violently.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," he said lightly. He sat down in Alya's empty seat, his own script in his hand. "Do you mind if I sit here since we're the only ones that are memorizing lines?"

Marinette nodded hurriedly. "O-of course!"

They sat there for several minutes, both looking down at the script. The idea of what she was having to do kept Marinette from sneaking glances at Adrien like she normally might. In fact, if either of them had been less distracted, they would have noticed that after ten minutes they were both still staring at the top of the first page.

"Th-thanks. About earlier," Marinette was the one to finally break their silence. "Without you, Chloe would've had the play shut down for sure."

Adrien looked up, clearly having just been deep in thought. "Oh, right. Yeah, no problem. Chloe can be a little overbearing sometimes, and Nino and Alya have worked really hard to write this. Nino said that they've been writing it for a long time."

"Y-yeah. Alya the same thing said. Alya said the same thing." A deep blush spread over her cheeks, and she looked away from his curious eyes.

As if he could tell some of what she was thinking, Adrien said, "You don't have to be nervous. I go in front of a camera all the time, performing really isn't as bad as people make it seem. You just need to ignore the audience."

Marinette turned towards his kind expression, about to speak when something crashed through the window. A man landed on a desktop, his face cruel as he looked around the room. He wore a white lab coat over a black, full-body leotard. His skin was an ashen grey, his hair was a lighter grey that stood out in random places, and his mask was black like his suit. On his chest was a red symbol of what looked like a beaker one would use in chemistry. Slung over his shoulder was a deep red satchel.

He raised a hand, a red haze forming around it. Marinette watched in shock as he clenched his fists and all of the desks in the room vanished into puffs of smoke.

A hand grabbed her arm, and she turned to see Adrien pulling her towards the door amidst the smog. Fighting the urge to melt at his touch, Marinette followed him and they raced for the door. They paused only when they heard a yelp.

"Let me go!" Max yelled. The smoke was slowly vanishing, and they could see the akumatized victim in front of him. It appeared that Max was now tied in some form of strange rope.

"I will never obey you or your father ever again," said the akumatized person, his hand still surrounded in a red haze as some strange block forced Max to walk with him towards the window.

"Mr. Bouchard?" Max asked.

"Atomizer!" he corrected harshly. "You would do well not to get your facts wrong around me!"

Before Marinette could see more of what was happening, Adrien had pulled her through the door with the mass of students trying to escape. Then his hand was gone. Turning around, she saw him running off like most of their classmates.

Shaking out of her stupor, Marinette ran for an empty closet before Alya or anyone else could see she was there. Tikki flew from her jacket, Marinette's own look of urgency mirrored on her face.

"Tikki, spots on!"

After a burst of pink light, Ladybug peaked out of the door to see if there were any more students in the halls. Seeing them empty of fleeing people, she burst out and rushed back to the class. The smoke was completely gone, but so were Max and Atomizer.

She threw her yo-yo and left through the gaping hole in the window. She'd only landed on the next building when her trusty partner landed next to her.

"Good afternoon, Bugaboo," Chat Noir said, looking over and smiling at her.

"Not too good - Hawk Moth's latest victim has already kidnapped somebody," she responded, looking around until she spotted Atomizer. Max, it seemed, was floating next to him and being dragged by one hand.

Chat Noir looked where she was looking. "We'd better help before he does something we'll all regret."

The two of them jumped in time with each other, landing on the next roof and running along it until it ended. Ladybug swung her yo-yo and Chat extended his staff to move through Paris. It didn't take long for them to catch up with Atomizer and Max. As they approached, he turned to look at the two superheroes.

"Let Max go, Atomizer," Ladybug said, landing on the roof nimbly. Chat Noir landed a second later, his staff shrinking to its normal size.

"His father deserves to be punished. He will draw him to me," Atomizer said. A purple butterfly appeared in front of his face for a few seconds, then vanished. "But before I get my sweet revenge, I shall have your Miraculous!"

Ladybug and Chat jumped to the side as strange blocks formed in the air and dropped where they had just been standing. Before Atomizer could do more, they rushed forward. Ladybug swung her yo-yo to free Max. she broke his bonds and quickly swung him down to the streets below while Chat Noir distracted Atomizer.

"Thank you, Ladybug! I think that is my father's partner, Henry Bouchard. From my vantage, I saw something in his bag," Max said.

"That must be where the akuma is. Thank you, Max, and stay safe!" Ladybug returned to the rooftop, landing right after Chat Noir made a strangled scream.

He was dripping wet, and the same type of bonds that had held Max had his arms and legs tightly wrapped. Atomizer was reaching towards Chat's right hand, only inches from the black cat Miraculous.

"Hey, Atomizer! Over here!" The villain paused, looking over his shoulder. That gave Ladybug enough time to throw the yo-yo and break the ropes. Chat Noir jumped farther away, then ran to stand next to his partner.

"Thank you for the save, Milady," he said. They backed away as Atomizer turned to face them, clearly very angry.

"How did you get wet?" Ladybug asked.

Chat Noir scrunched his face in distaste, looking at the drops of water sliding down his suit. "He can change the state of matter objects are in. That's what he's been using as rope - it's really just air. He turned the air above me into water. You know a cat doesn't like to get wet."

They dodged, a stream of water forming above them. "I think it's time for a little luck," Ladybug said. "Lucky Charm!"

A red and black spotted bottle of cold medicine dropped from her yo-yo and into her hand. She couldn't hide the confusion on her face. These seem to be getting weirder, she thought.

"Feeling sick?" Chat Noir joked. He extended his staff, turning it over and over quickly in his hands to deflect the blocks Atomizer was throwing their way.

Ladybug looked around them, trying to figure out how a bottle of cold medicine could help them. Surprisingly, something did catch her attention. The forming of new blocks from the air, and the Atomizer's hand which was covered in a red haze.

"Got it!" Ladybug took a few steps forward and unstopped the bottle. She held the bottle tight in her hand but tossed the liquid inside it at Atomizer's face.

As she expected, he directed his hand at the liquid and it turned into a puff of smoke right in front of his face. Ladybug grinned as he took his next breath, inhaling the gas. Atomizer started coughing, taking in even more. After a moment he started swaying and fell to his knees, his eyes unfocused.

Ladybug ran forward and took off his satchel. She dug inside and pulled out a laptop. With a good amount of force, she slammed it down onto the rooftop where it shattered. A dark purple butterfly flew out of the remains.

Her finger traced a perfect line down the middle of her yo-yo, revealing a glowing white interior. "Time to de-evilize!" She threw the yo-yo and caught the butterfly inside.

"Bye-bye little butterfly," she said, tapping the yo-yo. A glowing white butterfly emerged. Ladybug tossed the empty bottle she held into the sky. "Miraculous Ladybug!"

A stream of red and black magic left, repairing the laptop, returning the strange blocks back into the air, and then going off to fix the school. A dark purple substance surrounded Atomizer, then melted away and returning him to Henry Bouchard.

\---

Chat Noir stared at her in awe as she fixed the akuma. She is truly amazing. How does she do that? Then he walked over to her, both of their fists extending.

"Pound it!" they said in unison.

"Looks like you've returned to your normal state," Chat Noir said, looking down at the distraught scientist. From the corner of his enhanced eyesight, he saw Ladybug roll her eyes. That made him smile.

"I-I was akumatized, wasn't I?" Henry's voice shook as he looked up at the heroes.

Ladybug nodded, crouching beside him and resting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "What happened?"

He put a hand to his head, thinking. "My partner and I have been working for over a year on this theory regarding states of matter. He was in charge of getting it published, and somehow my name didn't end up on it with him. H-he apologized, but I just felt so angry about it…"

"I'm sure he didn't do it on purpose," Chat said. "Just talk to him, I'm sure you can fix it."

Ladybug's earrings beeped. It was the second to last spot. Her eyes widened. "Can you handle this, Chat?"

Chat Noir nodded, bowing dramatically. "I'll be seeing you, Milady."

She waved. "Bug out!" Then she was gone.

Chat helped Henry back to his science partner, where they made up easily. He gave a silly good-bye, then left himself. He'd have to figure out a good reason why he vanished from the school so long, assuming his friends were still there.

The entrance was empty, so he snuck inside and transformed back into Adrien without anybody seeing. Plagg left the ring, returning it to the silver color. He flew next to Adrien, looking tired.

"You brought camembert with you today, didn't you?" he said, half whining. "I'm exhausted."

Adrien rolled his eyes, his mind thinking back to Ladybug as he did. "I brought a wedge, but I have to get to my stuff. Just get in my jacket." He held it open and Plagg flew inside.

He walked to the classroom, walking in to see all of his classmates back inside. When he entered, Nino and Chloe ran up to him.

"Dude, where'd you go off to? None of us saw where you went and we've been worried!" his friend said.

Adrien held up a hand defensively. "I just, uh, got a bit scared. I found somewhere to hide until I knew that Ladybug and Chat Noir had fixed everything." This response seemed to comfort his friends.

He went over to his stuff - which was now in Alya's usual seat. Marinette looked relieved to see him safe. "Sorry, Marinette, but I'm not going to be able to read any lines today. With the attack, my bodyguard is going to be here to pick me up in a few minutes. I'll see you tomorrow." He slung the bag over his shoulder, covertly sneaking a piece of cheese from it into his jacket.

Marinette, along with half the class, waved to him as he left.


	4. Distractions

At school the next day, Alya and Nino announced the official casted parts for the play.

"Obviously, we have Marinette and Adrien as Ladybug and Chat Noir," Nino said. Both students gripped their styluses a little tighter at the words. "As our akuma victim, Storyteller, we've decided on Nathaniel."

"Our publisher, who Nathaniel will be after, is Chloe," Alya said. She looked towards the girl triumphantly, daring her to question her authority. It looked like she might, too, but when she looked over at Adrien she just hunkered down in her seat, pouting. "And Hawk Moth is going to be played by Kim."

"Max is tech, obviously," Nino said. "Rose and Juleka will be our primary costume and makeup people. Mylene will be the main focus for props, though our side characters - Ivan, Sabrina, and Alix - will be helping her."

Marinette was glad to see that everyone but Chloe seemed okay with their roles.

As the day progressed, she noticed everyone peeking at their scripts when they had the chance. Every time she saw someone do so, her anxiety rose. So much of the pages were something Ladybug had to say. So many lines were things she had to memorize.

All of her many responsibilities flashed through her head. She had all of her regular schoolwork, helping her parents in the bakery, babysitting Manon, her duties as class rep, fighting all of the akumas, and even the patrols she went on with Chat Noir. She had one of those today. Now she had to add not only the scheduled practices but time to memorize and practice on her own. Not to mention she'd still like to get some designing done if she could.

I'm going to have to maximize my time. Maybe I should memorize at lunch.

That's exactly what she did. At lunch she sat on a bench in the courtyard, intent to spend the time until next class memorizing. That idea was quickly dashed when Alya approached her, bringing with her Nino and Adrien.

"Do you mind if we sit with you, Marinette?" Alya asked.

Marinette looked up, ready to explain that she needed peace, but her brain short-circuited at the sight of Adrien. "I- uh, o-of course," was all she managed to say. She made to move over, but Alya stopped her, giving her friend a sly smile. She sat on Marinette's left and Nino sat on the opposite end of the bench.

Adrien smiled awkwardly, taking the last seat. The seat directly on Marinette's right.

"Don't you normally leave for lunch?" Adrien asked, looking at the small snack Marinette had on her lap.

Alya looked down as well, frowning. "Yeah, girl, don't you normally go home? I thought your parents made you lunch."

"Well, they do. I, just, uh, decided to stay today," Marinette said. She smiled shyly. Alya gave her a strange look but didn't comment. Instead, the small group started discussing the homework they had due next period.

"It took me forever to do. I swear, these assignments are nearly impossible sometimes," Nino said. Alya and Marinette nodded in agreement.

"I don't know, it wasn't too hard," Adrien said. Marinette, along with Alya and Nino, stared at him in shock. Adrien winced at the looks.

"Sorry. I learned a lot of the science stuff from my tutors. It's just kind of a review for me," he said. "I can help you guys sometime if you need it."

They spoke for a few more minutes, the conversation mostly between Nino, Adrien, and Alya. When they reached a pause in the conversation - it couldn't have been more than 30 seconds - Alya brought an end to it.

"So… I just remembered something about the play. Nino and I need to talk about it, but we don't have to bore you guys with the details. It might take a while, so I guess we'll see you in class." Before Marinette could protest, Alya had grabbed Nino's hand and was towing him away across the courtyard. Marinette was left with her arm partly extended and her mouth open a fraction.

"That was weird," Adrien said.

The sound of his voice made Marinette yank her hand back towards her as if a snake had been about to bite. "Y-yeah. Very weird."

"Were you working on the play?" Adrien asked. He pointed to her lap, where the script lay under the snack she'd been slowly eating. "I can't blame you. Finding time to memorize it is going to be a nightmare."

"Tell me about it," Marinette said dejectedly. Before she could say more, Adrien's phone started ringing.

He smiled an apology at her, taking it out. "Sorry, I have to take this. It's my father." He stood up and walked several feet away, where no one would be able to overhear him.

Marinette did her best not to watch him, but it was hard for her not to notice how his shoulders slumped only a few moments into the conversation. The conversation didn't last very long. When he returned to the bench, he didn't say anything. Looking up at him, Marinette was shocked by the look on his face.

She had always known Adrien to be a very happy, upbeat person. He was always the first to smile, the first to find the good in every situation, the first to offer encouragement for other people. She had always seen him as someone who always stood tall, always stood up for himself and others. The person she now looked at was one who had been beaten down. Defeated. It was nothing like the Adrien she'd built up in her head. He was so much more.

***

Marinette placed a hand gently on his arm, easing the coldness he felt with a touch of warmth. He looked up at her and was surprised to see only kindness. There was no shadow of pity like he would have seen with Nino, or confusion like he would have seen with Chloe. Her bluebell eyes only showed kindness and worry.

"You okay?" she asked.

He shrugged in response, looking back down. "Just stuff with my father. Nothing I shouldn't expect." That doesn't make it suck any less, though, he thought.

"Do you wanna talk about it? I'm a great listener," Marinette said. She smiled at him, then a bit of color rushed to her face. She pulled her hand away suddenly as if just realizing it had still been on his arm. "U-unless you don't want to, of course."

The return of her stutter made the corners of his mouth turn upwards in a small smile. It was strange to be on the receiving end of her comfort. Adrien had seen her work her magic on other students in their class, but she hadn't yet turned it on him. At least, until now.

"Thanks, Marinette. You're a good friend," he said. "My father just doesn't know how to sugar coat things, is all."

That wasn't a lie. His father had been very blunt when telling him the news that would ruin Adrien's entire winter break.

"Whatever he said, I'm sure he has your best interest at heart," Marinette said. Her smile was so genuine, Adrien was tempted to believe her words. Everything in his heart wanted to believe them, wanted to believe that his father didn't realize what he was doing.

"You're right," Adrien found himself saying. "Sometimes it's hard to remember that."

"I'm sure you're great. Er, I mean, I'm sure he's great. Your father might be strict, but it's clear that he loves you," she said. "I mean, he makes sure you have all of your lessons, he pays for you to have a bodyguard. To me that says he loves you."

This made Adrien's small smile widen. "I guess it does."

Before they could say any more, the bell rang. The sound shocked Adrien. He'd almost forgotten that they were still in school. He stood up from the bench, and Marinette quickly followed. His gaze was drawn to the script she had in her hand.

"Sorry if I got in the way of your memorizing. I appreciate you helping me after... that." He waved his hand vaguely to where he'd gone with his phone call. "If there's ever anything I can do to repay you, let me know."

He walked with her to class, oblivious to the color in her cheeks the entire time. When they got to the classroom, Alya and Nino were already in their seats. Alya seemed overly excited to talk to Marinette, who's cheeks became a deeper shade of red. Even Nino was smiling more than he should have.

"You look happy. How was lunch?" Nino asked. It seemed like he was asking a question behind his question, but Adrien couldn't figure out what.

"It was fine. What did you and Alya have to talk about?" he asked, glad he could finally ask what had been so important it couldn't wait.

"Just some ideas about sets and props, nothing to worry about," Nino replied. "Did anything interesting happen after we left?"

"Not really," Adrien lied. "Marinette and I were just talking. Why? What are you wanting me to say?"

Nino sighed, shaking his head. "If you don't know, there's no point in telling you."

Adrien gave his friend a perplexed look. He opened his mouth to ask more questions when Ms. Mendeleiev called the class to order.

***

Chat Noir sat on one of the beams of the Eiffel Tower, waiting for Ladybug to show up. It had been some time since they'd gone on patrol together. When they weren't fighting akumas, they only saw each other when they were patrolling.

Since Dark Owl, they had only been dealing with akumas. Being overcautious, Ladybug had insisted on postponing patrols after the close call they had. Their kwamis knew who the other was, and they couldn't risk discovering it themselves. Or at least, that's what they said. No matter what, he would respect her wishes, but that didn't stop Chat from fantasizing. He could picture the two of them spending time together outside of their masks. Going to the movies, drinking coffee, maybe even spending his suddenly bleak Christmas together.

If he knew who she was, he might have more of a chance with her. If she could get to know the facets of Adrien that didn't bleed through as Chat, maybe she would actually start to like him. Enough of his fans seemed to like him as Adrien. If only she knew that knowing her identity wouldn't hurt. No matter who she was, he would fight tooth and claw to protect her. Maybe that was her problem.

"What are you dreaming about, Kitty?" Ladybug said, her melodic tones light.

Chat turned his head to look at his partner. "Just your beautiful face, Bugaboo," he teased. She was sitting on the beam above him, and he had been so lost in his thoughts he'd failed to notice her arrival.

Ladybug wrapped her yo-yo around her beam and dropped down to sit next to him. "You look like you have something on your mind."

"I'm just glad that you finally agreed to start patrolling again, Milady. My evenings have become rather boring."

"You know why we had to postpone, Chat. We were so close to discovering each other's identities," Ladybug said. "We're friends, and I don't want to risk that friendship."

Friendship. The word was like a dagger in Chat's heart. However, much like she glossed over his jokes, he chose to ignore her unintentional jab like he always did. Instead, he stood up and looked out over Paris. She stood up next to him and for just a moment they stood in silence.

"We should get going. There's no point in scheduling a patrol if we're just going to sit here," she said. She swung her yo-yo, wrapped her arm around him, and they were yanked from the tower.

He reveled in the feeling of her pulling him so close to her. But all too soon, the closeness was over. They landed on a rooftop and she moved away from him. They started moving from roof to roof, watching the streets below. Chat listened hard, using the enhanced hearing granted by his powers to locate anything suspicious. The main point of their patrols was to look out for akumas, but they had managed to help with less magical things as well. It could be helping an old lady cross the street, or stopping a robbery when the police wouldn't risk going inside.

"Do you hear anything?" Ladybug asked.

Chat shook his head. "Nothing. Paris is quiet tonight."

After another half hour of wandering, mixed with occasional conversation, Ladybug stopped. Chat stopped beside her, following her gaze. His eyes widened when he saw the Agreste Mansion. "Is something wrong, Milady?" he asked, forcing his voice to remain even. Why would she be interested in my house? Didn't we decide Father wasn't Hawk Moth? Did she find more evidence?

Ladybug started, turning away from the building. "Just lost in thought, is all. Let's keep going. We can cover a lot more ground before I need to get home."

"What's at home that has you so captivated?" Chat asked, following her as she continued on with the patrol. "There's certainly nothing at my house that would make me want to spend less time with you."

"Some of us have things we have to do, Chat Noir," Ladybug said sternly.

"I've got plenty of things to do, but that doesn't mean I want to. Sometimes it's easier to forget your responsibilities for a while." Chat was already expecting her response.

She turned to him incredulously. "Forgetting your responsibilities just makes things worse. You can't ignore things just because you don't want to face them."

"You don't have to forget them forever," Chat reasoned, jumping to the next rooftop. "You have to admit that it's nice to get out and be a hero. We have a perspective up here that no one else has. We can do things no one else can do. It's nice to have the chance to come out here for a little bit and clear your head."

"Don't you have things as a civilian that clear your head?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Sure I do, but none of them are quite so effective."

Ladybug watched him carefully while they moved. The intensity of her gaze made him uncomfortable. Normally he would have welcomed her staring, but the scrutiny with which she did it now was too much.

"Is everything okay, Chat?" she finally asked, stopping.

Chat spread his mouth in a smile. "Everything is fine, LB. Just trying to lead a conversation." He avoided looking directly in her eyes, instead continuing to look in the direction they had been traveling.

Ladybug walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. He stiffened, the feeling of her hand sending a wave of electricity through him. He couldn't help but wonder if she knew that his heart rate increased at just her touch.

"Someone once told me that when times are hard, we need to find things that make us happy. 'Cause those things can make the world of difference when you need them." She spoke quietly, though it wasn't quite a whisper.

He turned to her, an idea formulating in his head. "That person knows what they're talking about, Milady."

She removed her hand, bringing up her yo-yo to look at the time. "I have to go, Chat. I'll see you next patrol. Bug out!" Ladybug gave him one last worried look before she swung her way through the streets of Paris.

Chat watched her go, then started home, smiling. His father's news that he would be on a business trip during Christmas, and that Adrien would not be permitted to leave the estate, wasn't so bad. Between Marinette and Ladybug, things seemed brighter. After all, just because Adrien couldn't leave the house didn't mean that Chat Noir was trapped as well.


	5. Shopping

“Tikki, spots off.”

Marinette felt her Ladybug disguise fall, and Tikki flew out of her earrings. She stood on her balcony, her transformation masked by the darkness that had started to fall. The sun had sunk rapidly in the few minutes it took her to travel back home. There were now only a few rays of light in the sky, and the latch on her skylight was covered in shadow. She felt for where she knew it was and opened it so she could climb down into her bedroom. Tikki flew down and turned on the light for her.

“Chat Noir was acting strange today,” the red kwami mused.

“I know. I hope everything is okay,” Marinette said. She pulled out her script with a sigh. “I’d love to help him out, but that would risk finding out our identities.”  
Tikki went over to her, sitting on the top of her computer monitor. “Don’t worry, Marinette. I think you said the right thing. He seemed better when you left. Kind of like when you were talking to Adrien.”

The image of the Agreste Mansion entered Marinette’s head. When they’d passed on patrol, she had stopped without thinking. The sight of it had made her heart flutter, making her remember her talk with the young model. Not only had she been able to say coherent sentences to him, but what she said had helped. It had made him smile. He’d looked so sad, but had returned to class happy. And it was all because of Marinette. Even the fact that he had once again called her a friend couldn’t bring the girl down. His smile as he walked with her to class was all that she could think about.

“Earth to Marinette,” Tikki said.

Marinette let out a startled yelp, falling from her seat. Tikki giggled above her. “Were you thinking about Adrien again?” Tikki asked.  
“W-what makes you think that? I was just lost in my thoughts, is all. Just wondering what had Chat Noir acting weird tonight.” Marinette picked herself up off the floor and returned to her seat.

Tikki shook her head. “You don’t tend to think about Chat Noir with that dreamy expression. Not unless there’s something between you two I didn’t notice?”  
Marinette glared at her. “You know very well that I have no feelings for Chat Noir!” she huffed, crossing her arms. 

Tikki laughed again. “So you admit you were thinking about Adrien?”

“M-maybe. I just can’t believe I was able to talk to him without sounding like an idiot! He seemed really down, but I was still able to say something. And I even helped cheer him up!” She put her hands on her cheeks and stared at a nearby picture of Adrien on her wall. The dreamy expression returned to her face.

“Of course you did, Marinette. You’re always very good at making people feel better. It’s like you already had your own superpower!” Tikki said warmly.

They laughed, Marinette once more shaken out of her staring. Tikki floated down, perching on the edge of the computer keyboard. The movement brought the dark-haired girl’s attention to the school work and tablet resting on the desk. Ms. Mendeleiev had given even more homework to prepare them for the upcoming test. After the hour of Alya grilling her for information after school, and Marinette’s attempts to answer without giving too much away about their friend’s despair, there had been very little time to work on it before leaving for patrol with Chat Noir. She was lucky her parents had let her eat in her bedroom again, or she would’ve missed their meeting altogether.

“How am I ever going to find time to work on everything, Tikki? This homework takes so long figure out, and I only have so many free hours during the day!” Marinette slumped in her seat.

“Maybe you can start a study group during your period in the library,” Tikki suggested. “I’m sure other people in your class could use help as well.”

Marinette perked up. “That’s a great idea, Tikki! Alya and Nino said they were having trouble too, I’m sure I could get them to start a group.” It was as if having this plan gave her new strength. She picked up her pen and started busily working.

A while later, she finally went to sleep. The second that her head touched the pillow and her eyes were closed, she was asleep.

***

The weekend went by uneventfully. There were no akumas, and no other pressing issues with any of Marinette’s friends. She helped her parents out in the bakery, hung out with Alya who helped her memorize for the play, and spent some time in the park working on her design book. She also spent plenty of time fretting about whether or not she should go see Adrien as he worked on a photoshoot on the Seine.

Monday came and went without incident. Nino and Alya had agreed to the study group before she could even finish the sentence. Nino even said Adrien might come on the days he wasn’t in his fencing class. They spent that day in the library studying, collectively struggling to find the answers to their homework.

Marinette went home with all but a few things done, eternally grateful that Tikki had mentioned forming a study group.

Her parents were busy in the bakery when she got home, so she went up to her room with only a wave and a brief hello. She put her backpack down and climbed up to her balcony. She didn’t have another patrol with Chat scheduled until later that week, but she was going to do a solo patrol.

“Why are you going without Chat Noir, Marinette?” Tikki asked.

“It’s been several days since the last akuma, Tikki. Hawk Moth is going to do something soon, I can feel it. I’m not going to be out long, but I want to get a look around just in case,” Marinette said.

Tikki scrutinized her for a moment, then nodded. Marinette smiled, checking that there was no one passing by on the sidewalk below before she transformed. The magic spread over her, and Marinette was clad once more in her red and black suit, yo-yo strapped safely at her waist.

She was only moving for a few minutes when she saw someone running. Her eyes darted in the direction they’d come from but didn’t see anything. Frowning, Ladybug swung down a ways in front of them, giving them just enough time to stop.

“What are you run… ning… from…” Ladybug felt color rush to her cheeks - an event that happened very rarely as Ladybug.

Adrien struggled to a stop, his eyes wide as he stared back at her. If Ladybug hadn’t known better, she would’ve sworn that his cheeks went red as well. For what seemed like an eternity, but in reality must have lasted only a moment, their eyes met.

“L-Ladybug?” he asked uncertainly, breaking the spell.

“Uh, yeah! You’re Adrien Agreste, aren’t you?” she asked, trying to hide her nerves. The Ladybug mask helped her keep her cool, but nonetheless she could tell this would be a difficult conversation for her.

“You know who I am?” Adrien asked in awe. Someone walked past behind him, and he whirled around in worry. He relaxed upon seeing someone that just kept walking.

This intrigued her. “What were you running from? Is somebody after you?” she asked, looking in the direction he’d come, ready to protect him.

“Uh, kind of?” Before he could say more, a silver car drove by on the street. He dived behind her, doing his best to hide behind her slim frame. Ladybug looked in the car and recognized the hulking form of Adrien’s bodyguard.

“Is that your bodyguard?” Ladybug asked, turning to face him once the car had gone by. Adrien straightened out, moving to keep Ladybug between himself and the vehicle.

He smiled sheepishly. “Uh, yeah. I kind of slipped away from him after my Chinese lesson… But, uh, you probably don’t care about that. Wait. Is there an akuma?” Adrien hurried and looked around the both of them.

“What? Oh, no! I’m just out on patrol.” Ladybug placed a reassuring hand on Adrien’s shoulder before she could think about what she was doing. They both tensed, looking down at the hand with two pairs of wide eyes. For another moment, it was like they were frozen in space and unable to move. Neither seemed willing to break it, but the sound of a car driving by made them both move. Ladybug pulled her hand back, feeling her cheeks burn.

Adrien’s eyes found hers, but both looked away quickly. He looked at the approaching car and his eyes widened. “Crap! I’m sorry, Mi- uh, Ladybug, but I’ve got to go!” The model turned and started running in the opposite direction of the road.

Ladybug turned and saw what had freaked him out. The car driven by his bodyguard had returned, and apparently this time he had seen Adrien. He kept looking at the running form, navigating the streets to follow him.

Before she even knew what she was doing, Ladybug started running after Adrien. With her enhanced endurance and strength granted by her powers, she was able to catch up with him easily. “Why are you running from your bodyguard?” she demanded.

He kept running, checking to see if his bodyguard could still see him. He didn’t seem phased by the fact that Ladybug was following him. In fact, the two of them seemed to run together rather well. “I’m not allowed to leave the house alone, and I’m trying to get my friends Christmas gifts!” he said, turning a corner sharply to get into an alleyway. 

That stunned her, almost stopping her from keeping up with him. His father won’t let him buy Christmas gifts? Why’s that? The idea made her sad. She knew Adrien’s dad had been strict, but she didn’t think he would resort to something like this. To prevent his son from buying gifts for his friends. No wonder Adrien had looked so upset after his phone call. His father was a piece of work.

She had only just finished these thoughts when her body started moving without her. It was as if, just for a moment, Ladybug was someone else and Marinette was just a thought process in the back of her head. Her red-covered arm stopped Adrien from running, then tightly wrapped an arm around him, pulling him close. The other hand swung her yo-yo, carrying the model into the sky and onto a roof. This happened several more times, taking them a ways away from where they had been fleeing his bodyguard. Finally, she stopped. She let him go on a deserted sidewalk.

Adrien was clearly stunned. Well, so was Marinette. She slowly realized what she had done, though it still felt as if it had been the actions of another person.

“E-everyone deserves to go Christmas shopping,” she said nervously. She took a small step away from him, suddenly very aware of how close they were standing. 

“Th-thank you, Ladybug,” Adrien said. He gave her an admiration filled smile, then slowly started walking away. She followed his lead, going in the other direction. They were only a few paces from where they’d landed when he called her name.

“Ladybug, wait!” Ladybug turned to see him with his hand slightly outstretched. This time she couldn’t not notice the color that filled his cheeks. However, his next words drove that swiftly from her mind. “Wh-what if you come with me? If my bodyguard finds me, I may need saving again.”

Christmas shopping with Adrien? she internally squealed. Adrien just asked me to go Christmas shopping with him!

“Sure, why not?” Ladybug smiled broadly, then went to walk alongside him. 

At first, they drew a few stares. After all, since when did Paris’s bug-themed superhero wander the streets with a famous model? Several times on their trip, Ladybug took them to a different street to avoid photos. Each time, they pulled away with their faces tomato red. 

The first place they eventually stopped at was a music store. Ladybug felt strange walking in and following Adrien throughout. He walked slowly towards where they kept their electronic equipment, but his gaze lingered as they passed by the pianos on display.

“Do you play?” Ladybug asked. She already knew the answer, but knew that she had to keep up appearances. Besides, Adrien never talked about his piano playing. For all she knew, it could be something that he hated doing. Or something that he loved. She was starting to realize that there was a lot about Adrien she didn’t actually know.

Adrien nodded. “Ever since I was a kid. My parents made me at first, but I love the sound and the feeling of playing now. The piano is such a unique instrument, there’s nothing that sounds quite like it. Do you know how to play at all?”

Ladybug shook her head. “I, uh, I never really thought about learning. S-so, what are you here to buy?”

“My friend Nino needs a new pair of headphones. He’s a DJ, so I was going to get him the best pair I can find. Apparently there’s a really nice pair here.” After a few minutes of searching, Adrien found the item he wanted. He grabbed the nicest pair of headphones in the entire store, then went to find a few CDs to go along with it. Ladybug gave him some advice on what to get, her heart rate increasing tenfold when their fingers touched to grab the same CD case. Then they went to the counter. The cashier was so enthralled by the presence of Ladybug that he had to ring it up twice, having gotten it wrong the first time.

Next, they went to a jewelry store, where Ladybug stood out even more. It wasn’t a store where the workers wore suits and dresses, but they were still dressed much nicer than you would see at another store. Everyone watched them as they looked around the store. Adrien didn’t seem fazed, but Ladybug couldn’t help but feel strange. She was used to stares as Ladybug, but not normally in enclosed spaces like this. The only distraction she found was looking at the kinds of things Adrien looked at.

He seemed drawn to looking at the nicest jewelry he could find shy of looking at things with actual diamonds in them. Ladybug seemed speechless as they looked, her eyes drawn to every piece they passed. Adrien didn’t say much, but every once in a while he glanced up at Ladybug. When he did, she would look back at him, then they would both hurriedly look away.

“What do you think of these earrings?” Adrien asked, holding up a pair of pearl earrings.

“They’re cute. Any girl would be lucky to get something like that,” she said. “Who- uh, who are they for, anyways?”

Adrien nodded, apparently settled on the earrings. “They’re for my friend, Chloe. I normally get her jewelry of some sort for gifts. She’s really into fashion, so everything else is too risky. I got her a pair of shoes once, and felt bad when I overheard her saying they didn’t match any of her clothes.”

Ladybug’s jaw clenched. I should’ve known. They’ve been friends since they were kids, of course he’s going to get her a Christmas present! And something so nice too! Adrien led the way to the counter. As they walked, Ladybug was too caught up in trying to calm herself that she failed to notice when he grabbed a silver pendant necklace as well.

After that, they went to a few other places. They had light conversation, mostly about those Adrien was getting gifts for, but it wasn’t quite like talking with a friend. Ladybug still had trouble keeping her voice even as she spoke to him. She was glad for the mask, or she never would have gotten a word out. Even he seemed to be thinking very carefully about the things he was saying.

“I should be going,” Ladybug said once they’d left the fourth store. Adrien looked disappointed, but nodded.

“Can you…” Adrien paused, taking a deep breath. Then he pulled out a pen and paper, which turned out to be a photo of Ladybug. “Can you sign my photo?” 

Ladybug’s eyes widened. This is a moment that she never would have expected. Adrien Agreste wanted her autograph as Ladybug. Well, he wanted it as Marinette, why not Ladybug? “I, uh, sure!” She took the picture and pen from him and signed it with the signature she had designed for when she was Ladybug. She handed it back, and he held it almost reverently.

“Be safe, and don’t forget to call your bodyguard,” she said. “Bug out!”

Before she could talk herself out of it and ended up staying to hang out with Adrien longer, Ladybug left.

***

Marinette transformed and climbed down into her room just in time for her mom to call her down for dinner. She sighed in relief. “I’ll grab you something at dessert, Tikki. I’m just glad that I made it back in time!”

“You should’ve spent less time with Adrien,” Tikki scolded. “I thought you were supposed to be patrolling.”

“I- I was! Just, from below instead of above. Plus, I was protecting Adrien!”

“From his bodyguard?” Tikki asked.

This left Marinette at a loss for words. “Just… just get in my jacket. Unless you want my parents to see you.” Tikki obeyed, flying into Marinette’s jacket. She went downstairs and joined her parents for dinner.

When it was all done, she snuck a few cookies into her jacket from the counter. She played a few games with her father, all the while being careful to hide the quiet munches coming from her jacket. It wasn’t so hard, as both she and her father got far too into their game for there to be any silent moments.

At the end of it all, Marinette returned to her bedroom. Tikki immediately left her hiding place. Marinette sat down on her lounge, thoughts about her day finally taking over. “Tikki… do you realize what happened today?”

“You hung out with Adrien?” she asked.

“Exactly! I hung out with Adrien!” Marinette said, her voice gaining in pitch as she spread her arms in excitement. “I may have been Ladybug, but I still hung out with Adrien! He actually valued my opinion about the things he was buying!”

“He was getting some really nice things,” Tikki said. “Those headphones for Nino were top of the line. And the earrings for Chloe were expensive!”  
Marinette nodded in agreement “They really were. I wonder why he was spending so much money on these things. I’m sure Nino will be ecstatic, though. I know he’s been wanting new headphones.”

“I wonder if he got something for you after you left,” Tikki said idly.

“W-what? M-me? Why would he get something for me?” Marinette stammered.

Tikki chuckled. “Because even though you struggle to talk to him, you and Alya hang out with him and Nino a lot. He said he was getting gifts for his friends. Well, you definitely fit under that category.”

The word ‘friend’ didn’t even register in her mind. “You really think that Adrien might get me something for Christmas?” she said dreamily.

***

Adrien got home not long after he parted ways with Ladybug. His bodyguard had found him and forced him to go home. He sat in the back of the car, his gifts next to him. He propped his elbow on the window, resting his head on his hand. As normally happened after spending time with Ladybug, he couldn’t get her out of his head.

The way she laughed, or rolled her eyes, at his jokes. The strength with which she held him as they soared through the air. The kindness in her eyes as she helped him escape his bodyguard. Even the feeling of their fists touching at the end of their last akuma fight. And after today… he couldn't believe that he had actually spent time with Ladybug outside of the mask. She had seemed to enjoy it, too. 

A clang signified the opening of the gates in front of his house. He looked forward, pushing his daydreams about Ladybug into the back of his mind. He steeled himself for what was coming.

The entrance to the house was large and echoey. Normally, it was empty except for the large painting of him and his father. Today, however, Gabriel Agreste stood at the top of the stairs. His gaze pierced the shield Adrien had attempted to put up. He looked downward, closing his eyes in defeat.

“Why did you run from your bodyguard, Adrien?” he asked firmly.

“I’m sorry, Father. I just wanted to buy my friends gifts for Christmas,” he said, still not meeting his father’s eyes. He motioned to the bags his bodyguard had insisted on holding. 

“I thought I told you that you were not allowed to go out shopping. Christmas is a busy time, and that means you are more likely to wind up hurt. I will not have you disobeying me again, do you understand?” his father said angrily.

Adrien sighed, hanging his head. “I understand, Father.”

“Good. For your disobedience you are grounded. You are permitted to leave the house for schooling and photo shoots only. Tomorrow you will come directly home and practice your piano.” He turned to go to his office.

“Wait!” Adrien called, finally looking upwards. “I have practice for the play tomorrow after school.”

His father paused and looked back at him. “You should have thought of that before you ran away.”

“But- but it’s a school assignment, not just something we’re doing. I’m being graded on this,” Adrien begged.

“Fine. You can attend your practice, but you will not be staying afterwards for any reason. Is that clear?” his father said, clearly not happy.

“Yes, Father. Thank you,” Adrien said.


	6. Chapter Six: Gaia

Marinette worked on a new design before school the next day. She and Alya were in their seats, both working on their own things. Alya was working on a draft for her next Ladyblog post, and Marinette was drawing out a design for a new jacket. When Adrien walked in, however, her eyes were drawn upward. He held two boxes in his arms. One was small, which she assumed was Chloe’s new pearl earrings. The other was larger. This one he placed on Nino’s side of the desk.

“Hey, Chloe,” Adrien said. Marinette watched him approached the pampered girl, who sat in her seat as if she ruled the world.

“Adrien!” Chloe exclaimed, jumping from her seat and wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug. His eyes widened, and he made no move to reciprocate, but he waited out the hug.

“I brought you your Christmas gift early,” Adrien said. Marinette hoped he’d explain why - giving her some hint to what his father had said over the phone - but she had no such luck. “It’s been a while since I got you earrings, so I thought I’d get you a pair.”

Chloe opened the small box and emitted a high-pitched squeal. “Oh Adrikins, they’re beautiful! You have such a great taste in jewelry!” She continued to gush over the earrings and Adrien for several more minutes. It only ended when Nino walked in and Adrien extricated himself from the situation. 

“Hey, Nino,” he greeted his friend. Marinette cast her eyes back to her paper and pretended to work on her design while actually watching the DJ. She hoped that he would like the CDs she and Adrien had picked out. 

“‘Sup Adrien. What's the gift for?” Nino asked.

“It’s your Christmas gift. I figured I’d give it to you early,” Adrien said with a smile.

Nino grinned, tearing open the box. “No way, dude! These headphones are killer!” He pulled them out, examining them carefully. Then he went back to the box and started digging through the CDs. Marinette forced herself to hide a small smile at his excitement.

“Whoa Adrien, that’s a pretty sweet gift. You must’ve spent a ton of money on it,” Alya said. The girl was looking at the table in front of them.

“Oh, it was nothing,” Adrien said with a shrug. “I went shopping yesterday and knew you had to have the best pair.”

“These are the best headphones available in the city!” Nino said in awe, quickly replacing the ones around his neck with his new pair. “And these CDs are going to be fantastic for my gigs!”

The corners of Marinette’s face went up into a small smile at hearing that. She was glad that Nino approved of her and Adrien’s music choices. Of course, she would have to watch what she said. None of them could know that she had a hand in choosing them. Especially Adrien. To help her pretend, she leaned forward and inspected the gifts, putting a look of awe on her face. The look wasn't hard, not with Adrien a few feet from her.

“You have a, uh, g-great taste in m-music,” Marinette said. 

Adrien smiled. “I had some help in picking it out, actually. Oh, I almost forgot! I’ve got gifts for you two as well.” He looked up at Marinette and Alya, then started digging in his bag. Marinette’s eyes widened, and she gave Alya a euphoric look. The girl rolled her eyes in response.

I’m getting a Christmas gift from Adrien! she thought elatedly. She felt her mouth fall open slightly, unable to do little more than prevent her squeals. Thankfully, Alya reached over and pushed her chin up for her with a chuckle. The movement helped her gain a little bit of her composure back, but Marinette still felt like every atom in her body was having a party.

“Alright class, everybody take your seats,” Ms. Bustier announced.

Adrien looked up apologetically. “Sorry. I’ve got a photoshoot at lunch, but I’ll give them to you after school.” He sat down, putting his bag on the floor next to him.

Marinette felt her smile fade, her mind suddenly in conflict. One one hand, she was still getting a gift from Adrien Agreste. On the other, she had to wait hours until he actually gave it to her. Alya patted her shoulder consolingly, then they all started class. She did her best to focus, but her mind kept slipping back to Adrien and Ladybug’s shopping excursion. They’d gone to four different stores, but she couldn’t recall him buying anything for her or Alya. Nino, Chloe, even his father’s assistant and his bodyguard, but nothing for them. He must have kept shopping afterward, she thought.

When lunch came, Marinette hurried home and ate quickly. She came back earlier than she normally would have to wait for Adrien. Alya and Nino ignored her as she sat next to them, watching the door to see if Adrien would return. Her sketchbook was on her lap, and her pencil in hand, but she ended up erasing everything she added. She was just too distracted.

Adrien ended up returning a few minutes after class started again, ruining Marinette’s hopes that he would return in time to give them their gifts before.

The last half of the day went by slowly. Marinette took notes but was mostly unable to focus on the work. Finally, the bell signifying the end of class rang. Once they had been officially dismissed, everyone started talking animatedly and pulling out their scripts for the very first practice. Marinette followed suit, but thoughts of the play immediately left her mind when she set it down. Adrien had walked up the few steps to her desk, his hands behind his back as he looked at her and Alya.

“Sorry it took so long, but there just didn’t seem like a good time earlier,” he apologized.

“N-n-no probl-lem,” Marinette said.

He pulled his right hand out from behind his back and handed a piece of paper to Alya. Startled, Marinette realized that it was the photo Adrien had asked Ladybug to sign. “I ran into Ladybug and thought you might like an autograph,” he said.

Alya took the photo almost reverently, her eyes wide. “No way! Adrien, how did you get this!” Alya exclaimed, her eyes glued to the photo and Ladybug’s autograph across it.

“Oh, uh, I just ran into her the other day while she was patrolling. I asked her to sign and she did,” he said. He turned his focus on Marinette, causing the blood to rush to her cheeks as usual. “You like fashion right, Marinette?”

She opened her mouth to speak, but it immediately became obvious to her that anything she said would not be coherent. Instead, she chose to simply nod.  
Adrien smiled. “Awesome. I don’t know how much you like my father’s line, but that’s all I could get access to. If I tried for anyone else, my father would kill me.” He removed his other hand from behind his back and handed Marinette an envelope.

Marinette took it in shaking hands and pulled out a single ticket from within. A ticket to a Gabriel fashion show in two months. Her eyes widened to the size of saucers, and a squeak actually escaped her lips. “Y-y-you- th-this-”

Alya looked over, her eyes widening as well. “Whoa. Adrien, your father is her favorite designer!”

Looking up at Adrien, Marinette had to force herself to keep breathing. “A ticket to Gabriel Agreste fashion show?” she said, her voice high pitched. She could hardly comprehend what was happening. Not only did she just get a gift from the love of her life, but the gift was a ticket to a sold-out fashion show for her favorite designer. She would almost swear she was dreaming.

“Well, I’m glad you like it. It can be a bit hard to find the location, so I can pick you up if you want,” Adrien said.

Marinette hadn’t thought it was possible for her to be more shocked, but here she was. Her eyes threatened to bulge out of her head, and her heart rate increased tenfold. Was he saying what she thought he was saying? She looked over at Alya to see, and the blogger seemed shocked as well. “Y-you’ll pick me up? And take the fashion show to me? Ah! Wait, I mean take me to the fashion show!”

Adrien smiled at her. “Sure. I'm going to be in it, so you'd be a little bit early, but that way you don't have to worry about transportation. I might be able to take you backstage after if you want. Anyways, I'll see you in a bit for practice.” He gave her a wave and went to his stuff - and a staring Nino.

“Stall!” Alya commanded him, immediately dragging Marinette into the hallway. Marinette was too stunned to do anything but clutch the ticket in her hand and stare at Alya.

“Girl, do you even realize what just happened?” she asked excitedly. 

“D-did he just-”

“You totally have a date with Adrien!” Alya exclaimed.

“I-I have a date with Adrien,” Marinette said breathily.

Alya put a hand to her chin, glancing in the window back at Adrien who seemed confused as he talked to Nino. “Assuming he knows he asked you, anyway.”

“What?!” Marinette clamped a hand over her mouth. That had come out much shriller than intended. She made more of an effort to keep what she said next quieter. “How am I supposed to know what he meant? I can’t exactly go ask him if he meant to ask me on a date!”

Alya patted her on the shoulder, thinking hard. “The ticket says it’s not for a while, right? That means we have some time to figure out if he means this to be a date or not. For now, you need to focus on getting through rehearsal without passing out.”

***

Shortly after a very confusing conversation with Nino about his gift to Marinette, Adrien and the other actors were ushered to the front of the room. Alya and Nino put them all into pairs to practice lines, then went to talk with all of the backstage people. He turned to Marinette, whose entire face was red.

“You alright?” he asked, worried about why her face was such a color.

“What? Uh, o-of course! J-just nervous," she said. At first her stammering had been odd, but after a while Adrien had gotten used to it. For a while, Adrien had almost thought she still hated him after the whole gum incident. She didn't seem to act that way in front of anyone else, and Adrien had come to realize that his being friends with Chloe didn't help his case. However, after so long in her class he now knew that she didn't hate him. He saw how she acted, and knew that she would not hide her feelings of disliking someone. Adrien just attributed her little quirk to him being a model. 

“What scene do you want to practice?” he asked, looking down at the script he held. The quiet weekend had given him some time to look it over, but he was still a long way from having it memorized.

“Uh-uhm. H-how about the o-opening scene?” she suggested, looking at her own script.

Adrien nodded, turning to the first page. “Alright… ‘Chat Noir saunters over to Ladybug.’” Saunters? Do I really do that? He took a few steps back, then walked back up to Marinette. All the while, he was far too aware of how he moved. He couldn’t tell if it was how he would have as Chat or not.

“Hello, Milady,” Adrien read, struggling to keep a mix of Chat and himself in his voice. If he slipped into his Chat Noir vibe too easily it would set off alarm signals.  
“‘Ladybug turns to face Chat Noir,’” Marinette whispered to herself. She looked up at Adrien briefly, turning as if she just noticed him. Then her gaze went back to the pages. “Nice of you to show up, Chat Noir.”

Looking at the instructions, Adrien smiled as instructed, though he couldn’t lean on his staff like it said. “You know me, I’ve got to look presentable,” he said.

“Just don’t take so long when there’s an actual akuma,” Marinette read. Her ears went slightly pink, and she pretended to flick the nonexistent bell around Adrien’s throat.

Adrien couldn’t hold back his chuckle. It should have been strange to have someone ring his bell other than Ladybug - even if the bell wasn’t even there - but for some reason, it felt natural with Marinette. Lucky for him, there was actually a laugh in the script. “Of course. I would never abandon you in your time of need.”

Marinette rolled her eyes almost robotically, clearly not used to acting. “L-let’s get started on our patrol. W-we need to be ready. In case there’s an akuma.” She groaned, momentarily covering her face with her hands at her stutters and pauses.

Placing an arm on her shoulder, Adrien took it upon himself to comfort the girl. She looked up at him, her eyes frustrated. “Don’t worry so much, Marinette. Just act like it’s you saying the words. You are the character, you are the person saying these words. You are Ladybug here.”

Terror flashed momentarily before her eyes. “O-okay. I’ll try.” Adrien moved his hand and she took several deep breaths. When she spoke again, her voice was much steadier.

“Let’s get started on our patrol. We need to be ready in case there’s an akuma.” Her words were so strong, it stunned him. It was as if she actually was channeling Ladybug somehow. He could almost swear that if he closed his eyes and opened them again his partner would be standing before him.

“Paris awaits our presence,” Adrien said. The words came half out of reflex, and half because of looking at the script. He internally cringed at hearing it. It came out much more like Chat Noir than he would have liked. When he was Adrien he was supposed to be more careful, but for some reason the situation had him disarming in the way his mask did. This play was going to be more difficult than he thought.

***

Several hours later, Adrien collapsed onto his bed. He had just finished practicing the piano his father required of him, then eaten his dinner alone as usual. The sun was still out, though it was beginning to set, when he got an alert on his phone.

“No way, now?” Adrien forced himself to sit up and look at his phone. It seemed there was an akuma attack at the Louvre. He looked around for his kwami, finding him on a half-empty plate of camembert cheese.

“Plagg, claws out!” The kwami was dragged groaning into his ring, and Adrien transformed into Chat Noir. He opened the window and was gone. Nathalie and his father would not be worried that he was gone. Adrien rarely had a reason to leave his room after he ate. His room was the only place really built for entertainment.

It took only a few minutes for him to approach the Louvre, and what he saw definitely came as a surprise. The normally pristinely-clean glass pyramid was covered base to tip in vines, bushes, and trees.

Ladybug landed next to him almost immediately after he arrived. “Looks like we’ve got good thyming,” he said.

“Not now, Chat, people are in danger. There’s an elementary field trip in there right now,” Ladybug said, her face serious as she looked at the museum. “It looks like she’s barricaded herself inside with the kids. There has to be a way to get past these defenses.”

Chat Noir held up his hand. “Cataclysm?”

She shook her head, leading the way up to the barrier of plant life. “We shouldn’t use it so early in the fight, it might be useful later. Let’s try just pulling it.” The two of them approached the doors and started tugging at the vines in front of it. It very quickly became obvious that it would not be moving.

Chat held up his hand again, and Ladybug sighed. “Fine. Let’s just hope this goes fast.”

“Cataclysm!” Chat lifted his hand, feeling the raw power of destruction in his grip. The power manifested as black magic in his palm, spreading over the plants as he traced his fingers along them. They shriveled and broke within seconds of the contact. Chat opened the now-free door and held it for Ladybug.

They walked through the Louvre slowly. Flowers and vines covered most of the space, but there was a trail where it was thicker. Both followed this trail, carefully picking their way through the undergrowth.

“How do you know there’s a field trip in here?” Chat asked, looking around a corner to look for the akuma.

“I know one of the kids as a civilian,” Ladybug said simply. He wanted to press further, but knew that his precious Ladybug would never say anything more if it would risk her identity. She was stubborn in that way. It was one of her most annoying and most attractive qualities.

Suddenly, the branches of a tree behind him shot out towards them. Chat hurried forward and pushed Ladybug to the ground, causing the branches to wrap around him instead. It got his right hand first, then his torso, tightening until he could barely wriggle in its grip.

“Chat Noir!” Ladybug exclaimed. She stood up and turned, looking for the akuma. It didn’t take long.

A woman wearing a long, flowing dress made out of seamlessly put-together leaves appeared. Her arms were covered in wooden arm bracers. Her long dark hair had flowers woven into it, and a wooden circlet resting on her head. A golden locket hung from around her neck. The glowing outline of a butterfly vanished from in front of her face.

“Well if it isn’t Ladybug and Chat Noir. Paris’s ‘superheroes’ come to save the day,” she said in a singsong voice. “I am Gaia, and I can protect them without you. Just give me your Miraculous and you can be done with fighting akumas every other day.”

“You’re barking up the wrong tree, Gaia,” Chat Noir said, reaching his left hand down to try to free his waist from the tree. The ring on his finger beeped, signaling four minutes until his transformation fell. “Uh, little help, Ladybug?”

Her yo-yo wrapped around both of the branches and she tugged. They snapped, dropping Chat to the ground. He landed as lithely as possible, grinning. Together they ran at Gaia, who lifted her hand with a gentle smile. Chat felt his own smile fade as a tree popped up in front of him. He smacked into it, falling to the ground. He groaned, pain blossoming in his head.

“You okay, Chat?” Ladybug asked, helping him up.

“Floral intents and purposes,” he grumbled, rubbing his head.

“Don’t beet yourself up, Kitty Cat,” she joked, looking back towards a very angry-looking Gaia.

Chat stood up, his body facing the akuma, but his face was looking at Ladybug. “Nice pun. It seems like we’re mint to be.” He winked at her.

Before Ladybug could respond, his full attention was drawn by a vine shooting at them. “Give me your Miraculous!” Gaia roared, her gentle tone becoming harsher. She glided towards them on vines, the plants around her shifting as she moved.

Another beep from his ring made Chat’s heart speed up. Three minutes to deal with this akuma and get home. “Any ideas on where the akuma is?” he asked Ladybug as they dodged more attacks. The pain in his head made it hard for him to focus on what she wore.

“I’m guessing it’s in her locket,” Ladybug said. She moved next to him and looked at his ring. “Looks like we should’ve saved that Cataclysm after all.”

He nodded, smacking an incoming vine to the side with his staff. “Just means we have to hurry.” Chat charged, Ladybug right behind him. He swung his staff, but his and Ladybug’s attack was blocked. 

The pair jumped backwards to get some distance. “We’ve got to end this fast. Lucky Charm!” Chat watched as she threw her yo-yo into the air and a red high heel fell into her hand. She stared down at it in confusion for a moment, then quickly looked around the room.

Every time she had a plan, and was preparing to execute it, her face became so determined. The set of her jaw and the look in her eyes reminded Chat Noir of how amazing she was. She started working, running to the corner of the room they were in, dodging several attacks Gaia sent after her. Chat ran with her, blocking things while they went. She was laser focused on their goal - what seemed to a small knife on display. She broke through the glass case and grabbed the knife. She used the end of her yo-yo to tie the knife onto the heel.

Chat Noir ducked and turned as she through it. He watched it soar, the knife allowing it to lodge itself into one of the vines directly in front of Gaia.

“You really think that you could stop me with a shoe?” she laughed. She continued forward, but her foot caught in the shoe. Gaia looked down angrily, then glared up at them. Before she could get another word out, however, Ladybug yanked on her yo-yo.

The shoe - and Gaia’s foot - were jerked forward. She fell to the ground. Ladybug and Chat ran forward as there was yet another beep on his ring. He leaned down and pulled off her necklace before she could get up. Chat threw it onto the ground and smashed it with his heel.

Ladybug’s yo-yo caught the purple butterfly that emerged. “Time to de-evilize!” she exclaimed. Then she released a pure white butterfly.

“Miraculous Ladybug!” Red and black magic flew around, clearing the museum of the plants, and removing the pain in Chat Noir’s head. A mass of purple fell away from Gaia, revealing a woman who would not otherwise have stood out.

“Pound it!” Chat Noir and Ladybug bumped their fists.

“W-where am I?” she asked, looking up in fright. Both heroes knelt next to her. “The last thing I remember was finding out my kids were going to the Louvre without my permission.”

“Don’t worry, you and the kids are safe,” Ladybug assured.

Chat Noir nodded in assent. “Why didn’t you want your kids to go to the Louvre?” he asked.

She looked down, shame crossing her face. “I… I was worried about them. So many akuma attacks happen at the Louvre… But my husband signed their permission slips anyways, so they came.”

“Don’t worry, everything is okay. Both you and your kids are fine. Chat Noir and I will always protect you and everyone else in Paris from akumas,” Ladybug said.

Chat’s ring beeped again. One minute. “That’s my cue. See you later, Bugaboo!” He ran off as fast as he could to get somewhere to hide. He barely made it to an alley outside the Louvre when his transformation fell.

Plagg flew out, groaning as he landed on Adrien’s shoulder. “That was exhausting!” he exclaimed, lying across his shoulder as if he were dying.

“You’re fine, Plagg. I’m just glad my head stopped hurting. An akuma has never done that before,” Adrien said. “Hawk Moth must have put quite the punch in this one.”


End file.
